Burberry boss gets £5.6m share boost

Angela Ahrendts, chief executive of Burberry, has been awarded £5.6m of bonus
shares after the retailer, famed for its trench coats and camel check,
reported bumper profits.

By Rupert Neate

7:00AM GMT 20 Dec 2010

Ms Ahrendts, who has been credited with revitalising Burberry's image, was last week granted 500,000 share options. The options, which are due to vest in 2015 if she meets a raft of strategic and performance-related goals, are worth £5.6m at Friday's closing price of £11.30.

Burberry Group

The award comes after Burberry reported a 50pc jump in pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of September to £118m. Sales came in 21pc higher at £641m.

Ms Ahrendts already had more than 1.8m options. Earlier this year she raised about £3.4m by selling almost 400,000 shares in the company. The sale left her with 364,000 shares.

The US businesswoman has led the company's drive to reclaim its brand from concessions. The company also opened 20 stores during the first half, taking the total to 164 shops and 171 concessions across 28 countries.

Analysts have praised Ms Ahrendts for sticking to her pricing strategy and resisting the temptation to follow rival retailers into discounting to combat the downturn.